Halo, A Tale Of Warriors: A Tale Of Spartans
by Kara of the House of El
Summary: Noble Six's story... As seen through her eyes. From the day she leaves Reach, all the way through her final stand with the Master Chief... The Spartans are not machines, and maybe she is all it will take for him to realize that.
1. Lone Wolf

Phantoms: Three in plain sight. Banshees: Five squads of three. Fifty-plus ground units. Gonna be fun... I looked around wearily, _'Well, Holly, You've given yourself one hellava run, but, there's always a time when it comes to end' _I though grittily, remembering my (by this time) near-sister Kat, my one-time crush, Jorge, my best friend Emile, the sniper and wry comedian and one close friend, Jun and The Guy Who Always Knew What It Took To Get The Job Done; Carter...

_All dead._

_And soon, I will be too._

I put my Magnum onto the magnetic plating on my right leg, grabbed on tight to my DMR, and put an Assault Rifle that I found on my back, dropping off of the small lookout I was on.

_Whoosh_

"Time to die, Covvies!" Not exactly the greatest one-liner, but I'm too tired to care. With a near-feral growl in intensity, I flip over in the air and land feet-first on the head of an Elite Field Marshall.

Crunch

"Blarg!"

That's really a funny sound to make when you die... BLARG, sounds like a sick person. I would have normally laughed, but I'm much to angry. My anger burns cold, it's the type I use, not the type that uses me.

Instead of laughing, or doing anything like I normally would, I pull out my Magnum and aim it directly behind me, hitting a Jackal square in it's beak, it collapsed, dead. Simultaneous to this, I threw a grenade and brought my DMR to bear, and as a Zealot roared and charged forward, I shot. My lone bullet struck right after the grenade exploded, and went through the warrior's throat, leaving him to crumple into a heap of tissue.

A squad of Grunts and Jackals surrounded me, giggling and snarling with crazed glee. I picked up a plasma grenade, threw it onto a poor Grunt's head, and used the distraction to leap into the air and rain down precision shots with my DMR, upon my landing, I swapped out for the Assault Rifle, and picked off the last few Jackals.

_Banshees_

I leapt into the air and took a Banshee, throwing out the angry Elite and locking onto another Banshee. Decimating it with the homing-capable Fuel Rod Cannon built exclusively for this ship, I flipped over another Banshee and shredded it with Plasma fire, barrel rolling hard right as a green blob zoomed past me. I got lucky, the pilot didn't bother locking on, and destroyed one of his comrades. Pretty soon, the Phantoms dropped in, and failed miserably at taking me down and shredded up most of the remaining squads.

_BOOSH_

What the fuck was that?! All my internal organs drop out as I realize, my Banshee is going down. Gotta jump! I landed with a dull thud.

_God, that hurt._

I limp away before being surrounded by Elites. I pull out my DMR and wipe out a score of the Minors and Special Operations troops.

_Crack!_

Fire erupted through my forehead as my shields went down for the first time, a Needle from a Needle rifle being stuck in my helmet's visor. The very tip scored my forehead just above my eye as the first crack in my MJOLNIR Mark V helmet appears. Growling, I slide under the Jackal who shot me, pulled out the Needle, and jammed it up its stomach mere seconds before it detonated and the shards cascaded through its victim. The jackal chittered weekly and fell when I let go of him.

I run behind a concrete roadblock and take cover as my shields regenerate, running out and tossing an explosive barrel at a squad of Elites. One Elite General gets up to me, and hits me with several superheated Plasma bolts, creating my second crack, and giving me some rather irksome burns. I stagger back, and get picked up by another Elite and get thrown face first into the sand, hearing a few good _cracks_ and _snaps_. When I get back up, I punch. Hard. The Elite that threw me goes flying back from my Beserker punch.

The General ignites his sword and tries to stab me, but I sidestep the blow, grab his sword and roll behind him, stabbing him, and then, pulling out my knife and throwing it up, pull out the energy blade.

The knife descends and I catch it, and, using a backhand grip, bury it into the back of a Grunt's skull and throwing the sword straight into the face of an Elite.

Six Zealots come in, and race towards me with their swords ignited as others still fire upon me... I should have gone down right then and there, but I didn't. My helmet got too cracked, so yanking it off, I fired into one Elites eyes with my DMR, and toss it away, since it was spent. I whip out my Assault Rifle, down the troops shooting at me and two of the Zealots. The rest swarmed me, and in a flash, two were dead and I was on the ground.

I grappled with a third 'till I could stand, then pulled out my Magnum, pressed it to the soft part of his chin, and shot.

FIRE! INSIDE OF ME! I desperately claw at my abdomen as the final Zealot lifts me up a few inches of the ground, and yanks the sword out, whispering smugly (at least, I think he said), "You fight well, but not well enough, Demon," I fell to my knees, and remained there for a few seconds, perfectly still as the final Zealot swaggers away. I gather as much of my strength as I can and snarl,

"I fight well enough!", desperately running up to the Zealot as he turns, dumbstruck, but soon regains his wits, and impales me again, this time, in my side.

"Aaahhh!" I scream as he wrenches the blade out. The Zealot chuckles and says, "You are quite strong, but lack in technique," he chuckles once more before I join in, grabbing the sword, and flinging it straight through the dead center of his chest.

"Well, who needs _technique_," I spat.

Limping away, I sit behind a crate, and think about everything.

_BOOM_

I look up, more dead than alive, watching myself from above myself.

_One more Phantom_

I grab for my Magnum and miss. Twice, but on my third try, I got it, unsteadily aiming at the ship. Once more it fires and misses, finally, on it's next shot, I fire, too. Miss.

I try again.

Miss.

And again.

Miss.

And one final time, when I saw beads of blackness at the corner of my eyes, I fire.

**_BOOM  
_**

The Phantom explodes spectacularly and as the wreckage hits the ground I internally smile,

_'Going out with a bang'_

_Then it all becomes black..._


	2. Six

_'Holly!'_

An edgy voice cut through the blackness of my sleep. In a flash, I was up. "Yes, Daddy?" I mumbled, half-asleep. "It's Ten-O'Clock. Time to go out and get some ice cream!" He cackled, remembering how much I loved the ancient homemade recipe that had been passed down since 1976 "But first..." He pulled up my shirt a little, and started tickling me around my belly button. It was all I could do to keep from shrieking in laughter.

Pretty soon, I was going numb from not breathing. I looked up at my dad and smiled before tackling him start blowing raspberries on his arms, and tickling him on his neck. He smiled, and picked me up, tossing me into the air said, "Hey, it's your Sixth birthday, whaddya wanna do, kiddo?" I looked at him and giggled, remembering,

_Oh, yeah, today's August 30th_

"I just wanna spend it with you and mommy! Just the three of us, I don't care what it is!"

Daddy looked at me, eyes aglow as he set me down and smiled, mustache twitching slightly, "Anything for you, Princess,"

* * *

"Time for ice cream! This time, I brought out something special, it's called Ice Cream Cake!"

My eyes became as wide a saucers as they sang out happy birthday. My mommy looked at me for a bit and asked, "Aren't you gonna make a wish?" I looked at her and giggled, "I have nothing to wish for, everything is perfect!"

We spend the rest of the day playing games and watching holovideos, and a few vintage movies my daddy had. That night, I curled up between the two of them and thought,

_'I couldn't be happier if I tried. I'm the luckiest girl alive!'_

* * *

_BANG!_

I sat bot upright, noticing immediately that both my parents were gone. I got up and headed for our shed, walking very quietly, and listening for anything that I can hear.

"Honk Honk!"

I wrinkled my nose and suppressed a giggle as I walked into our shed.

My thoughts of giggling crawled into a corner and died.

There was a Eight and a half foot tall thing that looked like a dinosaur holding up my mommy. Daddy was watching at the side, forced there by the _alien's _considerable bulk. It raised my mommy up and looked her in the eye, stabbing her with a glowy sword, right through her abdomen. He watched the spasm of pain cross her face as he twisted the blade and laughed, dropping her and moving over to my daddy, growling threateningly.

I could barely hold back the tears as I raced towards him.

_I came in too late._

The blade was already in his belly, and twisting when I reached as high as I could to hit his upper thigh plates.

"No!" I choked out looking at my parents, then back at him. If I saw myself, I would have probably been a little scared, since the _alien_ flinched and looked from my parents to me. Realization dawned upon him. He gently closed my eyes, and, from the sound of it, raised the sword up.

_It never came down._

I looked back up at it, rolled away from the sword and ran, skidding something out from under my foot, the thing tripped on it and dropped the sword. I picked up the sword and swung it down into the neck of the beast.

"Holly!" My mother gasped, dragging herself closer to daddy while he did the same.

"I'm here, mommy," I sobbed, pulling them closer to me and hugging them both.

"We saw you, you stopped it." They rattled out, smiling weakly.

"I don't care. What about you guys, will we every be able to spend more time together? Will I ever see you again?"

They looked at each other and rasped "Remember what we said about there being something on the other side?"

I nodded.

"We'll see each other again there. You _know_ we'll have a good time then," My father chuckled weakly.

"And until then, we never said goodbye." mommy began

" And since we never said goodbye that doesn't mean that we left." Daddy whispered, trailing off,

"It just means we're not here," mommy finished

Remember yesterday. Your sixth birthday," daddy smiled

"We love you," they coughed, hugging me weakly before they died.

_And I died, too. I wasn't Holly._

_I was Six._


	3. Six Is Strong

_Carter_

_Kat_

_Jun_

_Emile_

_Jorge_

_Where were they? I looked through the blinding darkness with hopeful eyes. _

_I know they're supposed to be here. Why aren't they? It's dinner time. Jorge and Emile always scramble down after Kat's done cooking. Carter usually gets back from work at about that time. But why am I calling my parents by their names?_

_Where is mommy and daddy?_

_I already lost one set. I can't lose another._

_But I already have. My imaginary family was shattered with Reach's glassed surface._

_And things will never be the same._

* * *

Bright light.

I want to go into it. How great it would be to be back with all the other Spartans I grew so close to.

I try to go in, but then I realize that I'm not actually dead. I'm on a table.

But where are all the other Nobles?

_They're dead. Now remember your training and don't let it get to you fool!_

Okay. I got grips again. Now I need to look around. Right, I'm on a table.

_A purple table._

"Hrrggnnnhh!" I struggled to escape the my bonds, but I realized, all I had covering me was a basic robe. No armor.  
"Good, human, you're awake," the Elite chortled cruelly.

Wait, how can I understand them? As if reading my mind, the Elite grunted bluntly, "We learned you language through tapping your brain." I relaxed a little.

_'At least I'm not becoming one of them,' _I thought morosely.

"Your wounds have been healed to a small extent so that way you will survive what we have planned for you."  
I looked at the alien and tried to spit.

_All that came out was blood._

The Elite laughed darkly and said, "Perhaps it's time for a demonstration?"  
I glared at him and snarled, "If you learned English, you should know what _this_ means-" A pause,

"_Fuck you," _I chuckled smugly as the Elite's body changed. I pissed him off.

"Yes, it is time for a demonstration," The warrior smirked.

It connected a bunch of machines and brought the object to me. He connected several patches to my head, shoulders, arms, stomach, and legs. I braced myself for the pain, and instantly readied up every torture coping mechanism I had.

None of them protected me from the searing pain.

* * *

"Chief, wake up!" One of the Cryotube operators shouted.

Master Chief, the legendary SPARTAN-II climbed out of his Cryotube and stood up, listening in as the techs explained, "We're being boarded by the Covenant! Come with us, Chief!"

The Master Chief nodded and swiftly walked after the jogging soldiers and techs, remaining right next to most of the running troops. They ran through the ship, Chief silently thanking his helmet for hiding his face, because each time he saw a soldier die, his face twisted into a grimace and his eyes filled to the brim with sorrow over the loss of _human life_.

Soon enough, John reached the bridge of the Pillar Of Autumn, and after a brief discussion with it's Captain, Jacob Keyes, took the AI Cortana and plugged her interface card into the port carried on his neck.

"Keep her safe, Chief, she cannot fall into Covenant hands," Keyes ordered pleadingly. Chief nodded and called out, "I need a weapon!"

"Here, Chief!" One of the Marines called out, raising up a MA5B Assault Rifle. Chief eagerly grabbed the weapon and ran out into the hall, smiling inside his helmet.

* * *

"What would you do if I told you there was a way to hurt the aliens that killed your parents and several of the other civilians that were here?" The strange man asked me. I looked up into his eyes with cold fury and said, "I would do anything for that," I snarled, the man smiled and said, "Good, Six. What if I had an offer for you to come with me, so I could make you able to destroy all of the Elites that did that to your family?" They're called Elites? What a stupid name.

"Then, I would tell you to take me with you." The man smiled and waved, "Come right this way."

I got up without question and climbed into the relatively large vehicle he called a 'Falcon'. Wherever he was taking me, my new life started now. Not as Holly, but as Six.

_And Six will be strong._

* * *

I jolted myself back to reality as the Elite unhooked the machinery, and, none too gently, jerked the patches (which actually extended needles) off of me. Small beads of blood pooled at each orifice left open from the patches. Next he undid my bindings and held me up with my hands behind my back.

Slowly, I brought my mind back around, I remembered who I am, and who I allow out sometimes.

I am Six.

But sometimes, I become the real me, Holly.

_Six is strong_

I remembered that, and got a little bit of fight back to me. I decided that I wasn't quite ready to die, or be enslaved. I kicked the Elite in his knee viscously, causing him to stumble. I grabbed the sword at his side and activated it, cutting straight through his neck.

It was time to run, nothing else. Just run.

And run I did.

* * *

The Master Chief (a living legend, to say the least) burst through an Elite Major, and cut through seven Minors before we got to him.

"Chief! She claims to be SPARTAN-B312, but, B312 stayed on Reach!" One of the Marines said. His gold visor locked onto me and I explained, hunched over and puffing, "I was captured by the Covenant after my Final Stand on Reach, but I was critically injured," I said, showing him the holes from being stabbed. The Marines winced. He nodded and looked at the back of my neck, where he found an AI interface panel. Chief nodded, "Alright, get her some medical aid, and suit her up in one of the other MJOLNIR Mark V suits we have!"

"Yes sir!" They shouted, warding me along.

* * *

I looked at my face in the mirror one last time before putting the unfamiliar green helmet on. Memorizing the green eyes, golden blonde hair, and fair, white skin.

_'Alright, Six, time to move out with the Chief,'_ I thought, running out of the Armory with an Assault Rifle and Pistol.

"We're gonna have to cut through a little slice of Hell to get where we need to be, B312," One of the Marines said, looking over to me as I checked over each weapon, determining which one to use. I looked up to him and snorted, "No. _We _are gonna have to go through a piece of cake to get where we need to be. _Reach_ and the soldiers on it already went through every piece of Fresh Hell the covvies could throw at it."

Looking somewhat taken aback at the outburst, the Marine shook his head and answered, "Of course, ma'am,"

Grabbing the Pistol, I turned around and experimentally fired at an Elite.

Judging from how its shields fizzled, three more shots would finish it off, assuming I hit the head.

_Crack! Crack! Crack!_

This weapon is absolute destruction!

Running forward, I took down two Grunts with two shots.

_Six shots left in the magazine._

I fired at an Elite, broke its shields and killed it with a roundhouse kick. Turning around, I looked over at the second Elite and fired off a shot.

It dodged it.

I fired again and hit the shields.

I fired my last shot.

It dodged and drew an Energy Sword, beginning to run forward.

I put my pistol away, drew my Combat Knife, crouched and got ready to fight, when all of a sudden, I heard Assault Rifle fire and the Elite began to stagger from the momentum of the bullets hitting it.

Soon, the shields broke and it went down under the barrage. I looked over to the side and saw Master Chief, rifle smoking, as he advanced forward.

"I owe you one, Chief," I breathed, looking at the twitching corpse of the Elite.

"Of course, I would have got 'im anyways," I smirked, looking over at the Chief

The moment's respite was over and the sounds of gunfire echoed and cascaded throughout the metallic hallway we stood in.

Dashing over, we engaged the Covenant, when, all of a sudden, I heard John bellow,

"Linda!"

I turned my head around as the shots from my rifle sped towards an Elite,

"Who's Linda," I shouted, backing up as a kamikaze squad of Grunts began to run forward.

"An old friend! Come on, we gotta get going," Linda shouted, downing the Grunts with her two Plasma Rifles.

* * *

"Here we are! A Lifeboat! Get on, you two, it'll be full afterwards, I'll find another!"

Looking back at Linda, Master Chief rose to his full height, shaking his head, he began, "No. You take this boat, I'll find another one."

Linda looked at him, nearly at eye level with him and snarled, "Dammit, Chief we don't have the time for this!"

Before he could answer, Linda dropped her weapons and shoved us onto the ship.

I looked at Chief and he stared back through the Gold visor.

"Well, there's nothing we can do now," I tried. He stared at me and slowly shook his head.

I looked down to where the Lifeboat was headed. It was some sorta Ring World...

Or _Halo_...


	4. Flirt

_Author's note: For those of you that aren't sure, the armor that Master Chief has is the MJOLNIR Mk. V armor, which looks almost the same regardless of whether the user is male or female. The male suit is more large from the arms, midsection, and legs (as far as the diameter goes) and the female has a slightly larger, more rounded chestplate, smaller arms, more slender legs, a smaller waist width, and a larger rump._

_Also, italics = flashbacks (most of the time)_

* * *

I don't know when I came to. I looked in front of me and saw Chief shaking his head groggily. We got up, and nodded to each other, he went to check the pilots, and I went to check the outside.

_I was stunned._

It looked like a full, lush planet. Save for the giant arc going over my head. Chief stepped out of the lifeboat and grimly informed, "The pilot's dead." I nodded, expecting nothing less.

"We should probably head over to where one of the other lifeboats landed," Chief's baritone voice reverberating in my helmet and chest. As we started asking, it occurred to me, I didn't even know his name.

"What's your name?" I asked evenly, not expecting much of an answer.

"John," he replied in a monotone.

I nodded and kept walking. John looked over at me and asked, "What's your name?" I locked my jaw and ground out, "Six." John snorted quietly, retorting with a cynical edge, "That's a number, not a name. Now, what's your name?" I sighed, flitting my eyes over to where he stood beside me and growled, "Holly. There, happy now?"

John shook his head in the negative and pointed up.

_Banshees_

The two Banshees came down, preparing to fire their fuel rod cannons. I rolled behind a Banshee and grabbed onto one of the rear beams. Using my other hand, I wrenched open the cockpit and kicked the angry Elite out, spinning on my hands as I kicked, I found myself right in the cockpit the warrior occupied mere microseconds ago.

I looked over and watched as the other Banshee came over and John did a perfect backflip and landed, on foot on each beam of the left wing, and pried open the cockpit, grabbed the alien inside by its neck and threw it out, sliding into the opening he vacated.

"Points for style," I smirked wryly.

"Thanks," he said, sounding like he didn't really care one way or another. "It's in the job description," he added. I suppressed a small giggle. How could such old lines still be funny?

"We need to find other survivors," I said, shaking myself out of my haze. John must have agreed, since he added, "We should probably start with checking all the other lifeboats." I nodded, even though I knew he wouldn't be able to see that.

* * *

"Crap, no survivors here," I grumbled.

"There's a structure up Northwest that we should investigate, there may be survivors," Chief called out as he and I started off in that direction.

"How'd you know?" I enquired. Seriously, did he wind up with Cortana? "Lucky guess," John answered.

"If it was Cortana, forget about it. I passed her to Captain Keyes before hopping on a MAC cannon to get you guys outta here," I snorted, looking over to see what he did. It looked like he nearly jumped out of his armor.

"How come she didn't recognize your bio-signature," he asked suspiciously. I looked at him and smirked wryly, "I never synched with her. I just magnetized her container to my back. During that time, she had no real senses, but was still self-aware." John glanced over at me, cocking his head off to one side and asking, "How come you didn't synch? It would have worked well," before continuing with his steady advance towards the structure. "Don't like working in teams too much." I reported evenly.

"Why?"

I couldn't stop what came out of my mouth next. I didn't even know I said it until I heard it, in the form of a brusque grunt, "There's too much to lose." John didn't even glance over. He just kept on marching, seemingly lost in thought.

Several minutes passed before we saw a Spirit fly overhead. John and I exchanged glances, and broke out into a sprint (Spartan sprints are about 75 MPH or 121 KPH). In about five seconds of our sprinting, we saw a huge, monolithic structure span over our heads, and the sounds of battle following.

"Ready for a good fight?" I asked the Chief. He nodded quickly and slid underneath an elite, shooting it as he slid. He stood up and finished the job with his pistol, getting one clean shot through its head.

I sprinted off, grabbing a Jackal by its neck and squeezing tightly. After the satisfying _crunch_, I dropped it and shot a grunt in the head with my pistol. The MA5B rifle on my back was used rather efficiently to shred up an elite.

Man, the MA5B is a ton better than the MA5C. Just because it has 60 rounds per mag rather than 32.

I balled up my fist and hit a grunt right in its ugly face, and as it flew back, I put my pistol to an elite's chin and pulled the trigger. I watched the brains fall out of the corner of my eye as I ducked under an energy sword, picked up my knife, and stabbed the wrist of the creature holding the sword. The elite dropped the sword into my waiting hand and I watched its face as I ended its life. I dropped the sword and started running back into the main body of the group.

* * *

"You Marines alright," John asked as I scanned the rest of the area to see if there were any Covenant squads left, "Yes, sir. We're fine." The Marine saluted. John nodded as I turned back and announced, "Area's clear. We should probably examine the interior of this structure." John gave a slight nod and jumped over the edge, with me right behind him.

We advanced into the building and I looked over to him and nodded, "Take point, I'll watch your rear," he nodded and moved on ahead, smirking, "I hope you don't really mean that you'll watch my rear. He was actually pretty funny! I giggled a little bit, saying, "Well, now that you've brought it up, your butt does look pretty hot. And that form-fitting armor shows it off pretty good." John's head perked up a little, and I could almost feel the blush spreading across his face.

I magnetized my weapon to my back and closed the distance between him and I, asking, "How'd you get here?" John looked at me for a moment before I specified, "Into the Spartan Project." He nodded and began.

* * *

_It all started one night when he was stargazing with his best friend, Kelly._

_"Do you ever wonder what's out there," he asked. Kelly looked over at him and answered softly, "No," John looked over at her and said, "I wanna meet them all."_

_..._

_John awoke to a woman walking into his house. She was talking with his parents for a moment before she moved over to him and took him outside._

_"Hello. John. I'm Doctor Halsey and I'd like to ask you a few questions," she began, even though she already knew the answers to every one of the questions. John nodded and she began,_

_"Are you stronger, faster, and smarter than your fellow students?" John nodded and she continued, asking more questions that John answered truthfully but never bothered memorizing._

_"I want you to watch this ancient quarter. There are two sides to it; Heads, and Tails," she said, showing each side as she spoke._

_"I'm going to flip this coin, and while it's in the air, I want you to tell me which side it will land on." John nodded, and she tossed the coin._

_"Tails!" John barked, before the coin fell._

_On tails._

* * *

I nodded. One question came to me, "What happened to your parents? Did they know you left?" John looked over to me and replied flatly, "I was replaced with a clone."

I nodded. It made sense. Time for us to continue checking the building.

And maybe flirt a little more.

* * *

_Guys, just a closing note, don't forget to review! Constructive criticism is welcome, and so are any other comments or feedback! Thanks, it would mean a lot to me! _


	5. First

_AU: Female Spartans do not look like an average male. Female Spartans just look like muscular females (not like how a bodybuilding female would look, just muscular. Feminine curves are still quite visible). They are still very strong, but simply don't as strong as they really are. They are very much on the same level (perhaps not quite as strong, but stronger than the average male) as a male Spartan._

_PS: this is my first time doing something like what there is in this chapter! Go easy on the reviews! No flames!_

* * *

He traced his finger over the schematics and looked over the blue three dimensional design of the Halo, looking it over, helmet still on.

"Well, I'm still not completely sure on what its saying this thing does. And I doubt that the console has a fitting port for and storage devices."

"You could try Cortana's card," I offered. John looked over at me and snorted, "How would I do that?" I pulled off my olive green helmet and held it loosely between my fingers and the palm of my hands.

"Before I took Cortana with me, Doctor Halsey had said something of the facility she found being that of an ancient, super advanced race, and that Cortana was the facility's custodian... Or something... Maybe the same race made this Halo?"

John nodded, quickly taking out Cortana's keycard and searching for an available port, which he found in about 30 seconds.

"Cortana, I need you to make a copy of all the information in here. Focus on decoding it later. We have a job to do, and Holly over here needs to get her medical aid finished up." I suppressed the urge to tell him that I'm Six, and just put my helmet on as Cortana replied,

"Right, Chief. I have it just about... Done!" John nodded and pulled out the keycard. On our way out, I looked over at him and mumbled, "You know, since I'm working with you, you can at least give me the channel that you and Cortana have."

John looked over his shoulder as he started walking and opened up a private Communication line in our helmets.

"Jealous?" I heard him speak, the tone writing out the smirk playing on his face beneath the emotionless visor.

"Well, I might be if you two are talking dirty in there. I thought that's what I was for," I giggled lightly, rubbing up on his side a little.

"I'm sending you the channel," he responded, hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Good," I purred, grabbing his other hand with mine and lacing our fingers together.

* * *

"Ma'am, time to get all the problems found and the treatments finished up," The medical tech said, leading me to the check up room so they could see how bad it all still was.

* * *

"Well, Spartan, it appears you will need some extra internal tissue or, in some cases, a completely new organ that we can fashion from a flash clone of the organs. This process will take the course of the night and next day, including recovery; during which time, you and Spartan-117 will have to stay here. You will have be put to sleep while I take cell samples for all the organs that I need to clone. After I am done, and the organs repaired, we'll make sure your rib is healing well, possibly use a laser to realign the bone and graft the bits together. And finally, I'll look at the other, less severe lacerations.

I nodded, laying down on the bed as I felt the steady, lapping waves of drug-induced tiredness overtake me.

* * *

I awoke sore, my insides felt like they had been inflated or removed and replaced, and my muscles ached. I looked to my side, surprised that the holes from being stabbed had already patched up.

"What time is it," I rasped, not expecting an answer. I was quite surprised when I heard scuffling and the sound of someone turning around.

I saw a tall (easily around 6 foot ten inches, or about 2.08 meters), had short cut brown hair; fair, almost pale, skin; beautiful hazel eyes; and a 'buffed out bod' as I heard a lot of the female Marines call it. It was easy to see it, especially with the tight-fitting uniform. Ooohhh... I'll be remembering that later on.

"It's 0837 hours, Holly," the familiar, homey baritone sounded out.

"Huh, perfect time for a story, then." I chirped, looking at him expectantly. John raised his hands up and backed away, and I, hoping to appease him and make him tell me a story pouted lightly.

"Sorry. I'm no good at telling stories. Why don't you tell me one, perhaps about your old team?" He asked hopefully. I looked off, remembering them all as I started, "Well, it was called Noble Team, and was all Spartan III's, except for Jorge. There was Carter, Noble One; Kat, Noble Two; Jun, Noble Three; Emile, Noble Four; Jorge, Noble Five, and me. Noble Six. We were quite a team, and, honestly, by the end, I looked to them all as family. No matter how much I tried to Wolf it, they still got close to me."

John nodded, paying attention as I began to explain more about them specifically, and later the battles we fought in as I allowed my thoughts to swirl around me.

* * *

_I looked around the Recreational Room, finding Jorge and Emile playing a game of Ping-Pong, Jun was off in one corner playing a redo of a shooter that's called  
__"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" or, as we all called it "Call of Doody: Vintage Warfare 3" because of the outdated weapons, technologies, and just about everything else. And because we enjoy pissing Jun off sometimes._

_Carter and Kat were lying down on the couch off to the other side, Carter curled around Kat as they watched a movie._

_"Get a room, you two!" I smirked as I walked over to where Jun was, "Got room for one more," I smiled, arching an eyebrow. Jun looked over and laughed, "Don't you know it! I just beat the Campaign which was kick-ass, and now I'm about to try out the Special Ops gametype! We can splitscreen!" I nodded and grabbed a controller as he set things up._

_..._

_I plopped down where my chair should have been._

_Should have been._

_Stupid Emile pulled it back before I could sit down, and I wound up sprawled on the floor. "Kaaattttttt, Emile pulled back my chair when I was about to sit in it, and I fell," I whined, standing back up. Kat looked over at Emile and flicked him on the nose._

_"What was that for?" Emile grumbled, rubbing the tip of his nose as Kat smirked, "Usually, in olden days, to get a canine to cease with unpleasant behavior, the pet owners would flick him or her on the nose. Maybe it'll work the same on some of the less intelligent, and much more ugly relatives, like yourself," she finished, shrugging and sitting down in her chair._

_Jorge and I laughed merrily, holding onto each other to keep from falling out of our chairs. "You just got it served to you," I snorted out, laughing too hard to do anything else. Eventually, Jorge and I both fell to the ground from laughing so much. I wound up on my butt, Jorge sprawled out to my side, clutching his elbow and groaning._

_"Funny bone... Hit," he rattled, looking like he had seen a ghost. I looked at Emile and Kat for a split second before bursting out into laughter._

_"Big man really does forget who he is sometimes," Emile chuckled, wiping a stray tear away. I just kept on laughing, unable to do anything else, scarcely able to breathe, in fact!_

_..._

_The Field Marshal was on me, snarling and growling. I punched it when it brought its sword up, but that did nothing to deter it. The blow simply slowed it down. Right when the pale blue light was in front of my visor, Carter struck, kicking the Marshal away, and allowing Kat to shoot it while he moved over to an Assault Rifle and kicked it to me. I got to my feet, pointing the weapon towards a Zealot that took the soldier that Carter had talked to earlier. The Zealot raised his sword to the soldier's neck and slowly backed away. We both heard the scream as the man was no doubt stabbed. I winced inside my helmet as I moved forward with Jorge to clear out the hole._

_..._

_I couldn't believe it when Carter died. And when Emile died. I'll miss Carter's competent command, and Emile's smug banter._

_Well, there's no one to tell me to leave behind the Lone Wolf stuff now. Might as well go down doing what I do best._

_"Come on, Lieutenant! Hurry!" I took one look up at the Captain and replied stonily, "Negative, sir. I've got the gun. Good luck to you," Keyes nodded, withdrawing his hand which wouldn't have been able to hold me anyways and mumbling, "Good luck, Spartan." I nodded, saluting quickly as they left. _

_I marched back to the Gun, stopping only to collect Emile's dog tags and tear mine off. I numbly put them on the same ring that I put Jorge's on. I pocketed the item, climbing up the MAC gun._

* * *

"Jorge went down blowing up a Supercarrier, Kat died unfairly from a headshot by that blasted Marshal, Jun went with Halsey to guard her, Carter committed suicide to make sure that the Scarab blocking me from getting to Cortana to the shipyard where your ship was, and Emile died protecting the MAC gun."

John nodded slowly, getting up from the chair he had made his way to, and walked over to me.

"How are you dealing with all this?" He asked softly, putting his hand at the side of the bed I was on. I looked up at him, "Fine. I remembered all the training they gave us for dealing with grief, and I simply applied it," he nodded, thinking aloud, "Perhaps I should remember and use that training as well."

I looked up at him.

_Damn he has pretty eyes!_

"We all do, sometimes," I said quietly, looking into his eyes. Before he knew it, and before I knew it, our lips met.

_Dammit, he has soft lips too!_

I knew my lips were soft as well, but I worried that he may have found them rough. Only for a second, since he continued, massaging my mouth and lips with his.

_"Unnnggghhhh..."_ The moan escaped my mouth and sounded slightly muddled, since it went straight into his.

_In all my life, I'd felt plenty of things, but none of them felt quite as good as this!_

I began to move my lips tenderly along with him, joining in the slow waltz he created. He pulled back and looked at me, remarking wryly, "That's enough. Don't wanna have you going back into the clinic." I nodded, chewing my lower lip in nervousness before whispering, "We can do this again tomorrow," John nodded as he began to turn and leave. He turned back and looked at me.

"Oh! One last thing-" we both began. We waited a moment to see who would go first. When I decided he would let me say what I needed to say first, I chirped,

"You're my first."

I looked at him and my eyes widened as I realized...

_He just said the exact same thing._


	6. Keyes

_Today I get out of the clinic._

I opened my eyes with satisfaction, sitting up and looking around. As if on cue, the Doctor came in and removed my I.V., remarking, "You're free to go now, Spartan."

I nodded and left, silently thanking the augmentations I received for enhancing my recovery speed.

I walked leisurely to where I thought John was by this time. The *makeshift* Mess Hall.

Sure enough, there he was, in some jeans and a grey t-shirt, sitting alone, eating three sandwiches, a steak, a pepperoni pizza, and an energy bar. Spartans eat a lot, myself included. Walking over to the lines, I grabbed a foot long sub, a cheese pizza, a large bowl of salad, and two energy bars.

You see, we Spartans can eat quite a bit. We may not need to eat a whole lot to go about our day to day works in the field, but Hell if it isn't great to not starve to death sometimes!

"Marine, you get enough to eat," A man jeered at me. I looked at him for a moment, before deadpanning, "Female Marines are obviously 6 foot nine inches, weigh in at about 276 pounds, and clearly are almost always decorated war heroes." I gave him a moment to grasp my sarcastic jab before continuing, "I'm a Spartan. And, where's my salute? I'm sure I outrank you, since I'm a Lieutenant! Now, come on, give me my salute, Marine!"

His eyes widened as he looked at me in a new light and immediately straightened out and grunted, "Ma'am." I don't like the Marine. He seems to contemptuous and arrogant. I looked him over once with an intimidating glare before barking, "Dismissed!" He nodded eagerly and scuttled away. I closed the distance between myself and John, sitting down in front of him.

"Hello," I spoke, not allowing my emotions to play out on my face. Give him the Ol' Spartan Poker Face!

"Hello, yourself," he smiled, looking into my eyes. I stared back at him blankly, wondering aloud, "Do you even remember the 'Spartan Face' as the Marines call it, or how to keep yourself from showing your emotions, or being overly attached?"

He frowned slightly for a fraction of a second before smoothing out his expression into a completely blank look and remarking in monotone, "Indeed I do, Spartan." I nodded, using all my power to restrain myself from flirting with him or talking some more... But alas, there comes a time when a girl can't hold it in any more.

"Well, what do you think we'll be doing next?"

"I'm not sure..." John responded, trailing off. I nodded, asking slowly, "How old are you?" John looked up at me for a moment before replying,  
"Forty-two, technically, but, with all the cryo sleep, I'm thirty-four. You?"

I looked up at him and smiled, "Twenty-seven. I've never been in the freezer, so that's my real age." He nodded, downing a little more of his water. I looked back to my food and made some more of it disappear.

At this point, we were both finished with our food.

_I can't resist it any more!_

Without warning, I grabbed John by the collar of his shirt and yanked him in, kissing him fiercely. Last time, it was only lips, but this time, I decided to try something new.

_I licked his lips._

Manipulated by something that was foreign to me, and I assume, to him as well, we began to attempt a kiss with a little tongue.

It was absolutely new to both of us.

Needless to say, it was awkward at first, but over the next few seconds, we figured out what to do.

"Get a room, you two!" A marine snorted with a laugh, pointing at us and standing up.

Laughter filled the room as John and I broke apart in horror, looking all around.

I stood up and looked to John.

_Damn, it's hard to stay mad when I look at that man!_

In spite of my difficulty with maintaining my anger, I grumbled out, "Might as well follow through with the suggestion. Now, lead the way," I finished with a slight smirk, even though I gave it my best effort not to.

I didn't allow my expression to soften until he and I made it back to the tent that must have been his. And, now mine as well.

Leaning back onto one of the cots, I stared into his beautiful hazel eyes and smile, "Well, we can't just pick up where we left off, since there are some other things I'm sure we'd like to go over.. Come on, John, please sit with me," I sat down and patted the space next to me for emphasis.

John walked over and sat, a slight pout playing on those amazing, full lips just in front of me.

"What's your rank," he asked, not letting me start the talk.

"Lieutenant." I smiled innocently, "Yours?"

"Master Chief Petty Officer." He shrugged, looking to me as I felt a saucy smirk spread over my face.

"I'll be the boss in the future, then," I noted aloud. John's eyes widened slightly before I mouthed _'kidding'_ and winked at him. We both knew about innuendos and sex. All Spartans' are educated in the basics of sex, since it is what society demands. Even though we aren't a part of human society! All the innuendos we picked up rather quickly, thanks to the Marines.

"So, what were things like on your homeworld?" I smiled, looking at him.

"Eradinus II, I think... I can't really remember too much..." He began, squinting and rubbing the back of his neck. I looked over at him as he asked where I was from.

"I don't know. And, honestly, I'm glad I don't... There's too much pain remembering what I can, and honestly, it would probably be worse if I knew where it was."

He nodded evenly, stepping out of our little tent and leaving me to my thoughts.

_Mom_

_Carter_

_Jorge_

_Dad_

_Emile _

_Kat_

_Jun (off in who knows where!)_

_Why did they all have to leave?_

I squinted, trying to hold back the tears I hadn't let fall for twenty-one years.

_I failed this time._

Thank God there was no one here to see me so wounded, so weak.

I'm a Spartan. Reduced to crying like a little girl!

I desperately swiped at the tears falling down myself. Felt my body convulsing with the silent sobs racing through me. I just sat there for a few more moments. Allowing myself the illusion that I was a normal human simply grieving for lost friends and family.. But I'm not.

_I am a Spartan._

Numbly, I get up, walking stiffly out, focusing solely on holding back the raging waves collapsing me resolve.

I march out, going to get my MJOLNIR armor from the makeshift tech bay where the portable machines collapsed my armor. I noted that I felt a little better after crying. Only a little.

Maybe I can hold off on the armor a little bit... In the mean time, I'm going for a run.

* * *

I got back from bathing in the river (already deemed safe by Medics) nearby, feeling much more refreshed and invigorated. Walking back to the tent, I smiled, seeing John walking in.

"Hi, John. What's going on," I asked

"Well, I saw you crying a little..." He trailed off looking at me with concerned, yet stern eyes.

"_Tell me why." _He commanded.

"Well, your question earlier made me think back on some things I'd rather not remember... In fact, there's a good deal of my life I don't wanna remember," I finished with a whisper, remembering the mass slaughter that the Beta Company Spartans went through when some of the Higher-Ups sent us on a suicide mission to a world being glassed. I also though back to being an Assassin for ONI before becoming Noble Six, the slaughter of my parents before my eyes, the sight of the entire town, burned and broken. The strange, purple ships looming over me when I was recruited to be a Spartan, the sight of my homeworld being burned and charred into a blackened husk of obsidian...

I looked off, knowing my eyes were beginning to glaze over again...

_Focus, dammit! You are a Spartan! You are not a hormone-driven brat, you are not allowed to be weak right now. You are Spartan-B312..._

_Ah. Yes. I am Spartan-B312. Spartan-B312 is in control now. No more stupid emotions._

I hardened my gaze, looking back to John. Seeing his gaze in a unreadable expression eased me, made me feel secure. I looked up to him and realized how emotional I had been.

_And you get dissolved medication in your armor that prevents Women's Menstrual Cycle!_

Immediately, I stiffen and look up to his eyes and smirk, "Thanks for the help... I really don't know what's up with me. It's almost like -"

"Like you're being human for the first time." He started looking into me.

_Have I really been repressing my emotions for twenty-one years?_

I have. And maybe now, they're coming back.

How am I gonna live with them? I don't remember how to!

Then I looked back to John, seeing him looking slightly absorbed in God knows what...

I looked down to myself.

And back to John.

It all makes perfect sense!

"John, teach me how to live again," I whispered, looking up to him and bringing my hand to the side of his head.

He grabbed my hand before then, and rubbed it, kissing it like how one would greet a woman in 18th century England.

John looked to me and nodded solemnly, I will, Holly."

I smiled at him and pushed him down roughly.

_"Time to finish what we started,"_ I moaned, pressing my crotch flush with his and looking to his eyes...

_Ohhhhh_

That feeling when I rubbed his crotch...

God! Yes!

It's simply indescribable! It's like... like... Being held and caressed and hugged and kissed in the most intimate, amorous way... Except magnified!

I crossed the distance between ourselves, closed my eyes, and kissed him.

I decided to continue with the whole tongue thing we started right off the bat..

Our tongues wrestled for dominance this time as the rolled over on the cot and pinned me, wrestling all the way.

_Gotta Play Dirty_

I reached behind him and pinched his rock solid ass, using to moment of surprise to roll over and win the battle in our mouths. Finally, I pulled back, both of us panting and smiled at him, laughing, "We'll do more than _this _later, but for now, it'll have to do."

I leaned back down and kissed him, giggling inside my head as I felt the warm fold of pleasure envelope myself once again...

I tried not to, but I moaned into him again, pressing ourselves closer together again.

* * *

I awoke in the morning snuggled into John's chest, with his arm draped around my shoulder.

I tapped his nose once and smirked, "It's time to get up, ya big lug," even though I knew he was up the moment I stirred.

He sat up and smiled, "Good morning to you too."

I waved it off and smiled at him as I got up and stretched, soon, he was up too. We walked over to respective cleaning rooms set up and waved bye to each other.

* * *

I stepped into my shower, enjoying the feeling of the warm droplets of water cascading over my body. I thought about John while I was in my private stall, and was surprised when a strange, new feeling came to me.

It was a very slight pleasurable ache in my groin. I continued imagining about our encounter and felt another feeling cross me.

This one made my stomach flip a little, filled my chest with a strange warm feeling, and made me feel... Happy.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt a grin cross my face as I did something new today.

I shaved my legs, like most normal women do.

Being done, I stepped out of my bathroom stall and got dressed in a UNSC t-shirt and long camo fatigues.

* * *

I walked into the mess hall holding John's hand and stepped over to the meal selection area.

I nabbed a plate of scrambled eggs, two omelets, a stack of pancakes, a bowl of cereal, two glasses of orange juice, and four glasses of milk. John, obviously got enough to eat too as we walked over to our usual, empty table and devoured our meals.

Not any sooner than the moment we finished, there was a squeal and announcement,

_"Will Spartans 117 and B-312 please report to the Command Center," _A voice rang out through the set up speakers spread throughout the camp,

_"Spartans 117 and B-312 to the Command Center."_

John and I exchanged glances and got up and jogged to Command.

"Yes, sir?" We began, saluting in perfect sync. It Colonel turned around and looked at us, rasping, "Captain Jacob Keyes has been confirmed MIA. It is believed that he is being held by the Covenant in the carrier Northeast of here. You two, and a team of Marines, are going to retrieve him."

I nodded and saluted, exiting after dismissal, John trailing behind.

To the Armory.


	7. Belly of The Beast

"This should be a completely silent operation 'till the Spartans here get loud," The Sergeant drawled, jerking his head over to us. I looked over to my fellow Spartan and smiled with a humorous drawl, "Gonna enjoy this, sir?" John looked over at me, swiped a Spartan smile and deadpanned, "Absolutely, Lieutenant, ma'am," I smiled, remembering once again that I was the highest ranking soldier here.

I nodded at them all before allowing myself to fall out of the Pelican backwards, doing a backflip for show and landing silently on a small ridge. I lay down and set up my Rifle as Master Chief raced out of the Pelican and over to the ridge across from me.

"Take out the turrets first," the commlink crackled.

My acknowledgement light flashed as Chief and I shot down the two turrets in sync before targeting the Elites that were in charge. A purple beam whizzed by me, and my armor showed it was well over 200 degrees Celsius.

"Chief, I've got the Snipers, you can take down the Elite commanders."

His acknowledgement light flashed as he fired another shot.

I saw the big, ugly bird head sticking out from one of the bushes.

_Not for long__,_

Another trigger pull, and the head was reduced to a dark purple stump. I smiled behind my visor as I targeted the next Jackal and shot. The Jackal had only had a moment to ponder where his arm went before the round I fired off bounced off of the stone and through it's head.

If my shooting was good, then right about now, a plasma coil should be hit.

I beamed as the shot decimated the rest of the Covenant defenders and I reloaded my four shot magazine.

_I still got it._

"Good gunning, Spartans," the Sergeant grinned, running up the incline that was directly behind the now decimated Covenant "forward base".

_If you could call it that._

As I ran forward, nabbing a few Plasma Grenades, a beam burst through one of the soldier's head, blowing it up and killing him instantly. I ignored the now scattered brains and raised my Rifle high and fired.

I heard the wail of a Jackal die down to a wet cough as its lungs no doubt filled with blood. Not breaking stride, I pressed forward, chucking a Plasma Grenade forward, and rolling behind a rock, Chief and the Marines in tow.

The grenade hit the head of an Elite Minor, who screamed, panicked, and ran in circles like an idiot for its last few seconds alive.

We all had a good laugh about this from behind our cover before I shot out again, hitting a Grunt in the head. Luckily enough, its Methane Pack exploded and the other Grunts near it also exploded, and the unfortunate Elite who tried to run at us, got a taste of flaming methane gas.

I stepped out from the rock as the Elite fell to the ground, stomping on the dazed Elite's head, I continue.

"Real competition you got there, Chief," one of the Marines whistled. I smirked, "You mean real keeper, right Marine?" The Marine grinned and laughed, "Ha ha ha, yes ma'am... Wait, what? Does that mean... Or does she mean their partnership on the field?" The Marine finished in a confused state as another one cackled, "Sparty Hanky-Panky," causing me to blush ferociously under my helmet.

"Right," I sighed shrugging off the embarrassment and pulling my M6D Pistol from my thigh and magnetizing my Sniper Rifle to my back, casually shooting a round at a Jackal trying to run away.

The round hit it's mark, and, upon penetrating the flesh of the Jackal, exploded, leaving behind nothing but bloody stumps for feet.

_Magnums certainly don't do that much! This is absolute destruction!_

Running a quick sweep of the area for any other hostile forces, and finding a negative, I ran forward.

_Pffffttzz_

My shields flared, but didn't die, despite the fact that I was just hit with several shots from a Shade Turret. Looking into the general direction of the shots, I fired off my Pistol several times.

"Pretty, ain't it?" A Marine smirked, looking to the purple and orange explosions with wide eyes.

"Sure as Hell is." Another Marine replied, firing off a burst from his Assault Rifle

_Damn straight it is, soldier!  
_

I ran towards the wreckage, gleefully throwing my four Plasma Grenades, and nearly cackling in joy and giddiness when I heard the shouts of surprise and panic.

"We're not in the clear yet," I whispered to the Marines through the commlink, keeping an eye on my motion tracker just in case. Right when I was going to announce the all clear:

_Kapow!_

A heavy plasma round landed right where I was half a second ago. I glanced over to the Marines and saw them diving.

Some of them didn't make it in time. All that was left was a small pile of ashes.

Running, I leaped over a nearby rock, pushed off a nearby cliff face, and sliding on the ground. Landing under the Heavy Plasma Turret, I punched a hole in the gun and buried a Frag Grenade inside, rolling away and turning my back to the explosion, while taking a knee to shoot at the next gunner.

Six sharp cracks rang explosion and the bloody stump of an Elite head was my reward. I looked over to the side to see Chief grabbing a Jackal by its hand and stabbing it in the lower jaw, jerking the knife out, he leaped backwards and landed behind an Elite, using the knife to split its head in two as he tumbled to the ground. He confidently rose up and shot a single round from his Pistol, hitting a cowering Grunt in its methane pack and sending the poor thing flying until it exploded around another cluster of Grunts and Jackals.

_Damn, he's got style!_

"Clear," I announced.

"Clear," Chief echoed.

Advancing forward, we found a green gravity lift and a Covenant force about 50 strong.

Crouching, I went near a cliff face and shuffled forward, eying my motion tracker in nervous anticipation. I licked my lips, preparing for the imminent thrill of battle. Rolling behind a rock, I set up my rifle and aimed at the head of an Elite who appeared to be in command. Pulling the trigger, I watched intently as the Elite's head was reduced to a bloody stump and the surrounding warriors grabbed their weapons and dashed for cover.

Abandoning my sniper rifle, I ran back and retrieved a Plasma Rifle.

Turning around, I charged forward and jumped up a small, elevated portion of rock. Using the rock, I jumped higher, magnetizing my Plasma Rifle to my left thigh, I began to climb up a small cliff's face. Plasma cascaded and ran around me, some hitting me and draining my shields, some hitting the rock and melting or scorching it.

Jumping from one handhold to the next, I evaded the fire.

I heard a slight squeak and looked to my left.

_Plasma grenade!_

Turning my head back to the path above me, I pushed off with my legs with all my strength, and was vaulted into the air. Landing on the tip of the cliff, I took out my Magnum, zoomed in, and began to fire on a group of Jackals.

_Pop! Pop! Pop!_

Taking down the three that faced away from me, pinning my allies, I zoomed out, and turned about 45 degrees to my left. I saw an Elite raising it's Rifle, and releasing a flurry of blue bolts of plasma.

Leaping off of my lofty perch, I landed with a _thud_ and my Shields flared. Turning to my left, I saw the Elite grumbling triumphantly. I raised my Plasma Rifle, and fired. The Elite's sounds of pride were replaced with an ominous growl as it dropped its weapon and barreled forward.

I shot at it, but it didn't fall. Finally, when the hulking mass of ugly alien came upon me, I rolled. Being kicked by the creature, I was thrown backwards about 6 inches.

Arising, I ran forward to attack the creature.

_Just_ as Master Chief jumped on it's back, and snapped its neck.

The alien growled weakly, drooling the purple ooze that was it's blood.

Master Chief walked away, I followed.

"I had 'im right where I wanted him!" I smirked, looking into Chief's visor.

"And I decided to help you," He stated blandly, continuing forward.

"SPARTANS! Reinforcements in a Phantom ahead!" One of the Marines called out. Looking to the right, Chief called out, "Everyone, get to the Gravity Lift! Our priority is to retrieve Captain Keyes, now move!"

"Yes sir!" The Marines shouted, vaulting over stones and sprinting along as I started running myself.

Stepping into the lift, we were launched up. Up, up, up. Above the trees and foliage, until the Covenant ship came into view.

I grinned, laughing into my private channel with Chief, "This'll be fun!"

Smirking, the Chief wryly agreed, "Of course it will, Holly."

"If you're Master Chief, as well as John, I wanna have a badass name and my human name," I teased, giggling slightly as we were lifted into the belly of the cruiser.

"Well, sir... We're in the Belly of The Beast. What's the plan now?" The marine asked nervously, looking around and realizing that he was surrounded by enemies by the dozen.


End file.
